Toy musical instrument.



S. R. DIVINE.

TOY MU$IGAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED F,EB.6,1909.

93 1,578. Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

ATTORIVE Y8 UNITED STATES PATEN amen SILAS R. DIVINE, OF LOOH SHELDRAKE,NEW YORK.

TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAs R. DIVINE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Loch Sheldrake, in the county of Sullivan and State of NewYork, have invented a new and Improved Toy Musical Instrument, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to toy musical instruments, my more particularpurpose being to provide a device in which an air jet, controllable bythe stroke of a stick or the like, is caused to make a whistling sound,the pitch of which is variable and controllable by the operators mouthwhich serves as a resonating chamber.

More particularly stated, my invention comprehends a bellows to bestruck by a stick manipulated by hand, and connected with the bellows bya tube is a member more or less analogous to a whistle and actuated bypulses of air from the bellows, so as to sound a note, the device beingfurther provided with a tubular member upon which the operator placeshis mouth and uses the latter as a resonating chamber of variablecapacity, changing the tone emitted by the instrument.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which-similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective showing the device in use; Fig. 2 is anenlarged perspective showing the member which I designate as a whistle,this member being shown as detached from the rubber tube wherewith it isassociated in use; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the whistle and partsaccompanying the same; Fig. 4 is a view partly in section on the line l4in Fig. 3, and partly in elevation, showing the internal construction ofthe whistle and parts accompanying it; and Fig. 5 is a substantiallycentral vertical section through the bellows, showing how the rubbertube is attached to it.

A circular base 6 is provided centrally with a passage 7, andcommunicating with the latter is a tube 8 which extends into the base. Arubber bulb 9 having generally the form of a hemisphere is mounted uponthe base 6, and may be depressed by a stroke of the finger or of a stickmanipulated by hand.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 6, 1909.

Patented Aug. 17', 1909.

Serial No. 476,355.

At 10 is a rubber tube which fits over the outer end of the tube 8, andconsequently communicates with the passage 7.

At 11 is a hollow member which I designate as a whistle. The lowerportion of this whistle is provided with a tube 12, fitted rigidlythereto and the upper portion of the whistle is provided with a plate13. The top of this plate is curved as indicated in Fig. 4.

Mounted upon the plate 13 is a tube 14 encircled by a band 15, this bandbeing removable. The tube 14 and band 15 are adapted to enter theoperators mouth, as will be understood from Fig. 1. The purpose of theband 15 is to render'the use of the device sanitary. This band beingremovable may be thrown away and replaced by another band similar to it,and this may be done, if desired, as often as the device is used. Theplate 13 is provided with an orifice 16 which is bounded upon one sideby a lip 16*.

At 17 is an air passage which is substan- 'tially in alinement with thelip 16*. A iet of air passing through the whistle is guided by thepassage 17 directly against the lip 16 so as to make a whistling sound.

At 18 is a stick having generally the form of a drum stick andmanipulated by hand for the purpose of striking the bulb 9.

The operation of my device is as follows: The parts being connected asindicated in Fig. 1, the operator places his lips over the tube 14 andband 15 (as indicated in this figure). The operator then, by varying theposition of his tongue and using his mouth as a resonating chamber, mayvary the pitch of the whistling sound emitted by the device, this soundtaking place whenever thestick 18 strikes the bulb 9. The operator maythus play a tune, striking the bulb 9 continuously, and by aid of hismouth changing the pitch of the sounds.

I have found that if the tube 10 be made of great length, the airpulsations passing through it are retarded slightly before reaching thewhistle, so that when the device is operated, the sounds occur after aperceptible interval from the instant when the stick strikes the bulb 9.This effect is quite curious and entertaining.

While the bulb 9, base 6 and parts immediately associated therewith,constitute a type of bellows, I do not limit myself to this exactconstruction for the reason that bellows of other types, or devicesequivalent to bellows, may be employed instead.

The tube 14 always has some little ca pacity or volume, and consequentlythe device, while in action, always makes a note of some kind though thenote may be eX- ceedingly shrill if the operators tongue happens to beagainst the end of the tube 14.

By varying the sizes and proportions of the parts the sound which isprimarily a whistling sound may be varied within considerable limits,and such being the case, the sounds may be considered as musical notesof high frequency.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A musical instrument, comprising a whistle, constructed to be engagedby the humanmouth for the purpose of causing said mouth to act as aresonating chamber forsaid whistle, a, tube connected with said whistle,and manually-operable mechanism for sending pulses of air through saidtube to said whistle.

2, A device of the character described, comprising a hollow memberprovided with an air passage and with a lip disposed substantially inalinement with said air passage for the purpose of producing a sound, atube mounted upon said member and adapted to fit into the human mouth inorder to enable the mouth to act as a resonating chamber, and; meanscontrollable, at will for supplying air pulses into said hollow member.

3. A devicev of the character described, comprising a bellows adapted tobe manipulated by hand, and a hollow member actuated by air pulses andadapted to emit a sound, said member being provided with a portion to beengaged by the human mouth in order that the mouth may serve as aresonating chamber -for varying the character of the sounds emitted.

4. A device' of the character described, comprising abase, a bulb ofresilient material mounted thereupon and adapted to be compressed whenstruck, a tube connected with said base and communicating with theinterior of said bulb, and a sounding member connected with said tubeand supplied thereby with air pulses, said sounding member beingprovided with a portion to be engaged by the human mouth for the purposeof enabling said mouth to serve as a resonating chamber.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a hollow memberprovided with an air passage, and further provided with an. orifice andwith a lip bounding said orifice, said lip being substantially inalinement with said air passage for the purpose of sounding notes, atube mounted upon said hollow member and communicating with said oriefice, said tube being adapted to fit into the human mouth in order toenable. the mouth to serve as a resonating chamber, and meanscontrollable at will for forcing air currents into said hollow member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

SILAS R. DIVINE.

Vfitnesses WILLIAM F. SHERWOOD, MARTHA SHERWOOD.

